“Heroes” puts the pieces together

Lots of naysayers have been complaining that this season of “Heroes” is slow, convoluted and boring. I say these people must have missed the first quarter of last season, which pretty much was the same way. The “Heroes” writers spend time seeting up their stories, and then the payoff comes.

Last night’s episode started to make sense of the jumbled pieces of this season. Turns out there’s a point to Hiro’s time travel, a deadly virus looms and mysterious bad guys are revealed. There’s still more to explain and it looks like next week is going to do it.

The bad news is TV Guide is reporting the possibility that the writers strike might mean the season will end early. Also, the spinoff series, “Heroes” Origins” has been shelved.